"The Day's Dwindle Down, to a Precious Few.....September, November..."

Hi there everyone....yep, the days sure do dwindle down to a precious few.....these were my first thoughts when I started this blog.....where in the world did this awful year go to....so fast and so many changes!!! Hope 2021 is a little bit better then this year has been.

I like this scripture, probably a favorite of mine, although this is NOT King James, not sure what version. King James reads. "Cast all your care upon Him for He careth for you". When JP and I were involved in a bus ministry at our old church in Ladysmith, Wi. 

I would make pictures on poster board with the scripture for that Sunday morning which the Children's Pastor had given me. Was usually Saturday night. So there I was, coming up with an idea (always asking God first) for a scripture idea every week. Sunday morning, I would tape the poster in front of the bus for the kids to see, they usually had it memorized before they got off the bus. And the kids were prepared for Children's church, learning what God had for them that day.

Wish I had taken a picture of it. It was a little girl falling into the Hands of God, shall never forget that picture and this scripture that went along with it. I can still see it in my mind's eye. Guess that must have been a God thing for that season of my life.

Here are a few Fall cards. The ones above were made in 2017. I was still involved with the Secret Stamper group. My secret stamper lady made the card on the left. I made the card on the right. I used one of my images, sending her 12 images of the oak leaf. Neat how two people can come up with two different ideas using one image.   

Now the card above was made this year, 2020. Same oak leaf but another way to use it. I am thinking this is a card I made for my secret stamper. I no longer have her card, as I donated it to Hospice. Oh well, that be life, I guess.

Aren't these pretty mums??? Bought these 3 years ago. probably will not buy any this year, not unless some extra money lands in my hands. JP and I celebrated our 47th anniversary, August 27th. I bought a dozen roses for $6....they are still going strong today. Still so pretty.

Well, I guess that is it for now. Maybe in my next blog I will tell you how our 47th Wedding Anniversary went. Our street is almost done, but my car is still parked on the street, as we cannot get into our drive. Be glad when all this road work is done and at least things are normal for awhile....whatever normal is.

I have my crock pot going right now, pork roast with onions and sliced apples. Mmmmm I can smell it already, should be ready in about two hours. Going to make mashed potatoes and gravy and maybe corn bread for a treat. Sounds like a fall meal and good too!!!

Take care and keep looking up, better days are coming.....I am sure of it. Cheers ~ Louise

Cookbooks and Hospice Cards

Hi there everyone. Hope you are having a good week. October is kind of exciting for me....I need some excitement in my life!!! The Hockey season has started. Tomorrow the Chicago Blackhawks have their first home game of the season, with 7 games being played at the United Center. Hopefully the Hawks will win all of those games....starting the season off with a bang!!!

The Pastor's wife and I are putting together a cookbook to raise funds for her son's scholarship in support of the Hilbert High School Football and Chilton Hilbert Wrestling. Josh was killed in a car accident 3 years ago. Mary has been working diligently on raising funds for his scholarships. So far, one young man has been helped through the scholarship fund set up for Josh.

At this point we are just collecting recipes, hoping for 200 at the end of this adventure. That hopefully will bring a $2,500 profit. As the recipes come in, I will be typing them into the program Fundcraft has set up. Things sure have changed since I last did these two cookbooks above....my goodness. The Abundant Life Assembly of God cookbook was put together in 1984 and The Salvation Army cookbook was put together in 1995. I still use both cookbooks to this day. It's always fun to look at the different recipes and remember the person who submitted that recipe.

Hopefully we will get the cookbook done by Christmas, so they can go out as Christmas gifts. Mary has a couple of other fund raisers in the planning stages. A Fishing Banquet, Josh loved to fish. And a "Family Feud" fund raiser at the Bowling Alley. Also included is the Annual Fund Raiser in September....that's the big one. Hopefully there will be cookbooks at all these events.  

In these next few pictures are a few cards I made last month for the September 6th Hospice meeting. The next meeting will be November 1st (where has this year gone to???)  I am still working on November's cards....have lots of Christmas cards made and will probably add the cards that I will get from the Secret Stamper Revealing Party on the 20th of this month.

Can you tell....I like this 3D Rose and Flowers embossing folder. The ideas are endless. The top card is embossed on black card stock and I smeared a gold substance on it, till I got the effect I wanted. The bottom card is embossed on plain gold card stock. The above card is a Thank You, below a Birthday. Two different cards, two different looks.

Below are some Veteran Cards I made. Always fun to make. We also made little favors that hold a piece of Hersey Chocolate. I thought I took a picture, but guess not.

The next two cards are my Butterfly cards. Pretty easy to make, as you can see. Just 2 die-cuts, a Thank You and some pearls to embellish the card.

This last card is a embossing folder with little butterflies enhancing the card along with a few gems.

Well, that's enough excitement for one post. The Hawks have 10 games yet this month...hope all goes well with them. The cookbook will be a success and I have lots of inspiration making some new cards for Hospice. Before you know it the snow will be falling.....not looking forward to that white stuff.

You all have a great week. See ya later. Keep looking up, better days are coming!!
Cheers ~ Louise

It's About Time???

Hi there everyone...whom ever you may be. The title says, "It's about time???" What does that mean, you might say??? Well, I guess it means....it's about time I did a new post, the last one was in May and my street was being torn up, things are more calmer now. The hole was covered up and the City laid black top down where the sidewalk was. It will be torn up again next Spring!!! 

I found out the cost for us this year.....are you sitting down??? We will have to come up with another $1,560.00 for this session...who knows how much it will be next year. I still have one more month to come up with $434.00 for taxes this year...geez, the City must think we have a money tree in our back yard.....I wish we did. Not exactly sure where we will come up with this extra $1,560.00 this year. We have been told we can either pay the whole amount in one lump sum, have the amount added to our taxes next year OR make 5 easy payments a month....that would be $315.00 a month along with all the other bills???  Paying this off will have to be a miracle from God!!!!

Well, enough of my tale of woes.....some how, some way, it will be taken care of. 

In this post I am showing you some of the cards I made for Hospice. Here are my 4th of July cards...they were fun to make. I inked the embossing folder, put the card stock in the folder and ran it off in my cuttlebug. So the background is colored and the fireworks are still white. Added a few gems and penned in the stars in gold.

I really love this die cut....so pretty. I received the die cut from my "secret stamper" and turned it into this lovely card.....makes for a nice thank you card.

My secret stamper also sent me this 3D rose background. I loved it so much I had to have this folder for my own collection. I used the same technique as I did for the fireworks card....sure do like the effect it gives. So many different ways to use this folder.....stay tuned for more ideas.

Here again.....my new secret stamper sent me this background. I added the butterflies, gems and Thinking of you verse....another easy peasy card.

I picked up these gold tags at Hobby Lobby on their discount rack, I figured I could find some use for them....here's what I did, ran it through the 3D rose folder....and made this very simple card.

So there you have it, a few cards for Hospice. Our next meeting won't be until September 6th....so hopefully I will have a good 50-60 cards made by then. We get the summer off from Hospice. Will give me more time for playing in my gardens. 

If this rain would stop, I could plant a few more seeds. I do have my tomato plants and zucchini plants planted along with radishes, lettuce, beans and cucumber. Planted some flower seeds too, zinnias, marigolds, inpatients and wild flowers for the butterflies. So, we shall see what grows and doesn't grow. 

Time to close here....you all have a great June. This next week, Kylie has a grooming appointment...she always feels good after her shower and shave. Tuesday I go for my 2nd vitamin B-12 shot and Thursday I have an appointment for a mammogram....ouch, don't like those tests. Summer begins on the 21st....how fast this year is flying!!!

Have a great evening and keep looking up, better days are coming!!
Cheers - Louise

Some Cards........Part 1

Hi there everyone....well, I decided to come back for awhile. Guess I just needed a small break....there really was not much to report at this end, nothing too exciting going on.

I did manage to make some cards for the Secret Stamper Group I am involved in. The lady that had my name sent these cute caricatures. Lots of coloring with copic markers. My favorite card is the card below....a little ladybug. I especially liked the color combos of the red and beige card stock. Someone told me these were all Whipper Snapper images....cute, cute, cute.

Here you see a cute little frog....it was fun coloring these guys, my biggest challenge was deciding what kind of background I was going to use for each card.

This next card was a fun to make. I found a way to fold the card stock, using a double sided card stock. Fit the card stock to the card, cut down the middle and fold over, using glue to keep it together.

Here we have a possum peeking out of a pot, smelling the flower. Easy background, a stripped background.

Here's a cute turtle. I cut her out and placed her on the double sided card stock.

This was a fun card to make for a birthday.....I like the saying, "Maybe a cupcake will help?" I just happened to have that stamp and thought it would go great with the mouse and cupcake.

My next batch of cards will be the images I sent to my secret stamper, "Linda". She happened to be the owner of the stamp store we met at. She said she liked the images I sent her, she had no stamp or die cuts in her store like what I sent her. So they were all new to her.

Tomorrow I have a Blood test for my A1C....where did those 6 months go to. I did manage to lose 8 lbs. Hopefully the Doctor will be happy with that loss. I am.

I am going to close here for now....hopefully I won't be gone so long. I will try to get back. Have a good evening and don't forget to vote tomorrow.....this is a really big one. It will tell us if the people want to stay Americans or go the Socialist way....which we all know, never turns out good for anyone.

Keep looking up....better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Secret Stamper Images Pt. 1

Hi there everyone. How has your week been? I am a little bit slow at getting these cards posted on my blog. These cards were from the Secret Stamper Image Reveal Party from April 22nd....oh well, guess spring has been a bit busy or, not so busy. No excuses. 

Have really been enjoying May and June. Not so much April though, when we had that bad snow storm....gosh that was a mess. It took my husband 3 days to get the snow shoveled and the car going down the driveway. He missed one day of work and then his supervisor picked him up the 2nd day. Third day he got out. I think by the end of the week you would never have known we had a snow storm of about 22-23 inches.

I had a really neat Secret Stamper. With each image, she sent a letter and where she got  the different stamps and dies. So the above cards were for December. She sent the deer, her card is on the left, my version of her deer image is on the right.

February being Valentine Day, she sent a Valentine kit, the white back ground with a cut out heart, the silver heart, pattern paper for the heart and the little strip of hearts. Her card on the left, my card on the right. I embossed the white back ground with hearts, running it through the cuttlebug. Adding the Love die also.

March, being St. Patrick's Day. She sent the leprechaun, again, her card is on the left and my colored in leprechaun is on the right.

Well, I guess I did not get October in the right order. She sent the small leaves. Her card is on the left, and my card is on the right.

January....She sent the "hello" her card is on the left and mine is on the right......I love that giraffe. I saw the idea at Hobby Lobby and made quite a few of these cards. When my secret stamper sent the "hello" I thought that would fit perfectly for the giraffe.

April's card was the flower. I have this stamp, but she also had the die cut to go along with the flower. Her card is on the left and my card is on the right.

I know I did not get the months straight, should have put them in order when I was taking these pictures. Well, next group of cards will be better....I hope!!

So there you have it. there is another Part 2 to these cards. The images that I sent to my secret stamper. That will be my next post....maybe in 3-4 days or so.

I am still working and planting my gardens....planting flowers, tomatoes, peppers, onions, beans, lettuce, zucchini and what ever else I can get in my planters. When I am finished, I will take pictures of the things I have been working on.

Time to close, church tomorrow and I need to get some sleep, that's if I can sleep, drank too much iced tea. Talk to you later, keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

The Luck of the Irish

Hi there everyone.....are you ready to celebrate St. Patty's Day???? Got my cards made, aren't they cute? Thanks to my "secret image stamper friend." She sent me these little leprechauns and I colored them in. These were extras. I have my secret stampers cards set to the side. 

I think I mentioned this once before. A secret stamper image is sent once a month, November thru April and then May thru October. We are given a name to send our images to. Our name is given to someone else. Last year, the lady had my name and I had her name....that was fun, when we had the revealing party, we were both surprised we had each other's name.  

We make 14 images, make two cards and then send 12 images to the person whose name we have and visa versa. It's quite the challenge to come up with a card using the image sent. Sometimes I have "brain block" then all of a sudden an idea comes and WA-LA and pretty cute card evolves!!! 

Here's my St. Patty's tree. As you can see, the red Elf would not leave his perch in the tree. I took him off......and he jumped back in....he said he liked the green lights and didn't want to leave. So I left him there. (to bad I could not find a green outfit....then he would have really blended in.) This is my first year for a St. Patty's tree....for the last couple of years I have thought about doing it, but didn't. I found some lights for half price and some shamrocks too. So, why not have a St. Patty's tree this year!!! I am not Irish....but it is always fun to celebrate special days.

This is my St. Patrick's Day center piece on the dinning room table. It always comes out every year. I have a Valentines, Christmas, Easter, Spring, Fall and Summer center piece. I like the changes of seasons.

Here are pictures of those cards again.....I was trying to eliminate the glare of the flash....put the cards in a plastic envelope...not a bad shot.

So tomorrow JP has an appointment to get a tooth pulled at the oral surgeon...he is not looking forward to that. Me neither, that means I will have to listen to his moans and groans for three days. I guess I shall be hiding in the basement.....making cards and hanging clothes on the line.

I got a call from the accountant this afternoon....our taxes are done. Gosh I hope we got a refund....that would be nice to have some extra money. For one reason, I need to get a new dryer. Our 27+ year old Speed Queen dryer sounds like a cement mixer when drying. I am now hanging clothes and towels on the lines in the basement. It's okay I guess, but towels and wash rags are so scratchy. Bummers...huh! Feels like the old days when we lived in Ladysmith in a Pole Shed. I just had a little washing machine and hung clothes in the house, good thing was, it put moisture back in the shed/house. We had a wood burning fire place and wood burning stove, so it was pretty dry in the shed.

Another thing I want to get done, is finally have a radio and CD player put in the car. I have been radio-less for over a year now. Maybe I can get that done. We have the CD player, it was given to us 10 years ago and has never been used. Time to get it in the car.

For the last couple of days I have been dealing with a plugged drain in the kitchen sink. I plunged and plunged and poured a whole bottle of Mister Plumber down the drain at intervals and plunged and plunged again. So much so....that the plunger broke...it too was old, it came with the house as did the dryer. So yesterday, I went to the Hardware store and got a new plunger...this is a real dandy, it's purple and plunges really good with much more power. Yep, got my drain unplugged, the dishes done and the water goes down the drain. Hooray!!!!

Well, I hope that is enough trials and tribulations to last me for the month all came in one week....the dryer, the drain and JP's tooth....enough already!!! You all have a great St. Patrick's Day, careful not to drink to much green beer....keep looking up.....better days are coming sooner then we think!!! Cheers ~ Louise

The Secret Stamper Image Revealing Party

Hi there everyone. Hope you are having a good Monday. My how the weekends fly by so fast. We look forward and in the twinkling of an eye...the weekend is gone......POOH...gone!!!!

So Saturday we were busy spreading red mulch in my little gardens. JP filled the wheel barrel with at least 16 loads in different places. I will take my time in spreading the mulch.....that would be the easy part, unless I get some new ideas for mulch in different places. Yeah, I do that sometimes.

Sunday I woke up pretty exhausted....from all my work on Saturday. But I did get rolling for church. I had dinner already cooked, so all I had to do was heat it up for JP before I left for the revealing party.

About 3:00 I got ready to leave and meet Betty for the ride into Neenah for the Secret Stamper Image Revealing Party. Lots of women were there....maybe about 15 or so. There is one man involved in this group, but he did not come. He lives too far.

So in the top picture, you can see the cards I made with the image sent to me and the cards I made with the image I sent. The lady that sent images to me is the first row of cards on the left and the lady I sent images to is the row on the right (you can not see a few of the cards because I cut them off in the picture.)

This was another batch of cards sitting on another table. As you can see, the images sent and received are so different....so much creativity overload!!!!

These cards were on the same table that the cards I made were on. I totally missed the table with extra images that people brought that they did not want. I took some of my images back, I can use them for Hospice cards. There was also a bulletin board full of cards too.....goodness it was amazing, all the cards.

Well, I signed up for another 6 months...May through October, maybe I will have a better 6 months, with no hitches. I did meet the lady that was sending me images. She was surprised that I did not receive April's images.....the images came today, a bit too late to make cards with. For some reason she thought the revealing party was in May.....duh! Nope, Renea emailed everyone a couple of times to remind them that the party was going to be April 23rd. I guess not everyone reads the MEMO.....oh well!

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you....on our way home from the revealing party we stopped at Dairy Queen. We had a treat, a $1.00 root beer ice cream cone. Oh my gosh was that delicious....I must take JP there for an ice cream for sure!!! On my way home from Betty's I stopped at Pic n Save and bought a pizza and got one free and hamburger and buns and seltzer water.....oh and a loaf of bread for 29 cents and a free jar of peanut butter.....now that's good shopping....lol!

I am going to cut this post short...have to go walk Kylie, she missed her walk yesterday, I was sooooo tired!!! I will feed her and then maybe go spread a couple of piles of mulch before "Dancing with the Stars" starts. No hockey tonight, the Chicago Blackhawks are out of the running for the Stanley Cup. But it will be fun to see who wins the Cup. I will let you know.

Have a great evening and keep looking up, better days are coming.

Cheers ~ Louise